BRS Beast - Forsaken World
by Crimson Wound
Summary: In this universe Black Rock Shooter Beast awakens in a world that has faced an apocalypse of unknown origin. With no one around to enlighten her, she sets off on an adventure... This story's world is most influenced by Black Rock Shooter the Game, but follows BRS Beast with a different plot.
1. Chapter 1

Black Rock Shooter Beast – Forsaken World – (Fan-Fiction)

By, Matthew T. Woods (Crimson Wound)

Started Typing 12/08/2014

 **Chapter 1**

She walked the streets – or rather – she walked the remains of what once were streets. The pathway of uneven cement chunks created an obstacle-course for tiered feet. Lining either side were towering buildings which groaned as the wind threatened to knock them off their injured foundations. Flirting with the girl's short, black, uneven pig-tails, the chilled breeze did not faze the emotionless expression on the pale-white girl's face. Her eyes glowed such a vivid blue, that even her pupils seemed to gaze a darker blue rather-than black. Resting on her back was a long-and-broad claymore sword. Naturally complimenting her hair and skin color, her unique outfit displayed a solid black with white lining.

The fifteen-year-old girl wondered into one of these towers. Appearing to be mostly in-tact, the ground-floor room seemed to have escaped whatever tragedy happened outside. Scattered over the floor were data chips; each one was exactly five square centimeters small and displayed a sticker on the surface. Faded-writing and a picture labeled each chip unique from the rest.

Squatting down the girl began shifting a pile across the floor. One caught her eye. Resting in her hand, a little sticker promised her that this chip could show her a story about the cute character in the picture. Without a moment's hesitation, she stood-up and stuffed the chip into her black purse. After exiting the building, she ambled back down the street, the way she came.

Not a soul was seen on her journey back to an old hotel in the city. Entering one room she started a generator which sputtered to life in a fog of smoke. Following an orange cord down the hallway, the girl entered the room it led to. Out the far window she watched, as the sun began to disappear behind the buildings. Taking the chip out of her purse with one hand, she switched-on a television with the other. Eagerly the chip was shoved into its slot, and the display began presenting the story about the cute character.

While seated on a bean bag, the girl watched intently as the character on the screen went on an adventure with his friends. She watched as the character was presented with unforeseen challenges and tests of character. Eventually he overcame all these challenges with the help of his friends. At the end of the story the character realized he fell in-love with one of his friends; and while sitting on a hill, they watched the sun set together. The screen slowly tilted upward as these two characters kissed. The girl's eyes were locked onto the television like magnets as the final scene faded into the words "The End."

Leaning back in the bean-bag, the girl grabbed a chocolate protean-bar off the end-table and began nibbling on it. An hour or so passed before she began to drift into sleep. An adventure might be fun.

In the morning the girl decided she would go on an adventure. She did not have any friends to go with her, but that did not phase her. Never having friends to begin with, makes one dream about having them yet too afraid of actually having one. Packing a duffel bag, she stuffed it full of snacks and drinks. Holstering her rather large pistol to her side, she was about to walk out the door, when she remembered the chip. It was a really good story. With one swift motion she grabbed it and stuffed it into her bag. The adventure awaits.

She nearly walked two blocks before she realized an obvious mistake. Where would she go? All North, West, and South had been explored. In fact, she suddenly realized that she was walking one of her usual paths. That was no way to start an adventure.

Gazing down the eastward road, memories came flooding back to her head. That direction was from where she originally came. Waking-up trapped in some sort of damaged pod. She screamed for help for several hours, but the only reply she received was the pod's computer reporting that "stasis" was failing. Overwhelmed with emotions, something inside herself sparked the flame in her left eye. A literal blue flame burned out of her eye as-if it were fueled by oil. Throughout her body, she felt warm power surge within her veins. A glowing blue crown appeared around her head, as a voice in her head spoke an unknown English word, "Beast." Escaping the pod with the power was almost too easy. However, an automated security alarm was activated. Battle drones and turrets confronted her escape. She fought her way through using only the pistol and claymore that she found in the pod. Accidentally finding herself in the power-generator room, the girl had no choice but to destroy the power supply and its back-up. Without looking back, she ran out of that facility and never returned since.

That was the reason she never explored the East. Unfortunately the facility stretched as far north as it did south. There was not a way around it. If she could not go around it, then the adventure begins going through it. Making up her mind, the lonely soul wandered eastward, toward the abandoned facility.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Getting inside was not a problem, since the power-grid was completely offline. An hour or so passed before she reached the other side. An ocean. The grave-yard of scattered ships was all that was left of the docks. The waves crashed on the facility wall as if to knock it down. Perhaps this once was a beach, and the waves wanted it back. Sadly there was no adventure waiting here. The girl was about to turn around when something down shore caught her eye. A blinking orange light. She made her way to the source. Upon touching the light, a large pod lifted out of the floor. A computer voice identified itself as an emergency continental escape pod. It appeared to be self-powered.

After a moment of silence, the computer also reported that it detected no other pods in the facility, and it insisted that she take this one to escape immediately. When she asked what happened to them, the computer responded that they were already launched.

If they were launched, then that means people must have taken them. Perhaps this pod could take her to them.

Without a second thought the girl hopped into the pod. Inside there were twelve seats and a control panel on one. The computer asked if all necessary personal were in it. The moment the girl responded, the hatch closed and everything began to shake. With merely a five-second count-down beginning, the girl struggled to strap herself into the nearest seat in time. The pod rocketed up and up, reporting its progressing height along the way. Finally it reported that it was entering orbit. Emotionlessly the computer reported that there was an error. Apparently one of the oxygen tanks was malfunctioning. Panicking the girl reached for the controls, but in her rush during the countdown, she had chosen a passenger seat. As if it was a frozen coffin the computer's voice reported that it was shortening the trip and also lowering the oxygen ratio in the air for conservation. Between her panic and the low oxygen, the girl passed-out before she could unbuckle the seat-straps.

"United States of America - Washington State Base," that's what the computer reported when the girl queasily woke-up. Realizing she had landed, the girl wasted no time getting out of the pod. She just managed to get on-top of it, when the computer reported another error. After triangulating its landing coordinates, it warned that this was the science laboratory of the facility and not the docking station. Looking up, the girl saw a gaping hole in the ceiling. How hard was the crash? After glancing around the large room, disappointment sunk into her heart. No one here either. The place was abandoned and trashed. Computers and large equipment filled the room, but they appeared to have been intentionally destroyed. Just then the floor began to grown. With the pod-door clenching onto her foot, the girl was dragged through the floor and into a lower room. The landing was harsh, yet she was fine. As soon as her foot was free she jumped away from the pod. Shooting a series of blue energy at it, her pistol angrily finished off her overly-persuasive nemesis.

"B.R.S. project detected. Searching for current adviser." Another computer voice filled the room. Cautiously the girl started pointing her pistol around.

"No personal detected within the facility. Commencing emergency procedure Alpha-one-one-five."

A panel opened in the floor and something covered in a white sheet emerged. Cautiously the girl approached it. Ripping off the sheet, revealed a vehicle of sorts. She could use this. In front of the vehicle an underground pathway opened.

"Please take the current prototype hovercraft, and exit the facility. All other emergency equipment has been rendered dysfunctional."

Even though she did not understand what the computer was saying, the girl was able to deduct whatever the strange motorcycle-like vehicle was. Now, how did it run? Did it need that smelly liquid or those metal cells? Running her fingers across the side, a compartment popped open. She jumped at this and took a step back before reaching inside. A book? It had pictures of the vehicle with words that seemed to describe each part. After staring at the manual for a good thirty seconds, the girl concluded that she knew a few of the words in it. This was not her fault. No one bothered to teach her how to read before they disappeared. Occasionally a story chip she watched back at the hotel had some English words in it, but not enough for her to learn much.

Setting the manual back inside the compartment, she decided intuition was her best hope to get this thing started. Placing her hand on the blinking light did nothing. Sitting on the seat did nothing. Pushing the buttons did nothing. Eventually she decided to pretend to be driving it. Assuming it made the sounds like the vehicles in the story chips, she let out a loud "Vrooooom!"

"Voice command, not recognized."

The girl stumbled off the vehicle and hid behind a work bench, before she stammered out the best greeting she knew, "Co-ni chu…a."

The machine responded, "Hello. Please state your designation."

The girl did not respond, but slowly re-approached the machine.

"Voice identification commands appear to be malfunctioning. Switching to scans."

A bright beam of light blinded the girl, as she took another step back. The machine beeped twice before the beam turned-off.

"Designation accepted. Hello, B.R.S. number zero. Prototype Anti-gravity Combat Bike mark three-point-zero-zero-two awaiting your command."

The bike sure said a lot of words she did not understand, but it seemed to accept her. The girl climbed back on the bike. She decided the thing she first said to the bike, might also get it running.

"Vrooooom!"

"Voice command not recognized. If you want a list of commands, please refer to the manual or simply say 'Help.'"

She decided to give it more oomph, "Vroooooooooom!"

"Error. Speech pattern not recognized. Would you like to make 'Vroooom' a command?"

Frustrated with the bike, she decided to agree with whatever it was saying, "Hi."

"What command do you want 'Vroooom' to start?"

'Start!' That was a word she knew. "Start."

"Confirmed. 'Start' command replaced with 'vroooom' command."

Assuming she would never figure it out, the girl let out a sad sigh. She just wanted to ride it. Why did it have to be so hard? Why was the bike speaking a different language? She leaned forward on the frame and let-out a broken-hearted, "Vroooom…"

"Confirmed. Starting engines."

The machine whirled to life and lifted off the ground. Perking back up, the girl's face was radiant with excitement. Now was the easy part, learning to fly the thing.

Only a few lamp-posts were knocked-over, as the girl struggled to learn how to control the thing. Luckily the bike was as robust as her claymore. Not a scratch was scraped after the zig-zagging down the road. Within a matter of minutes, the girl mastered the controls and was off into the vast unknown.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Two days of uneventful exploration passed. There were no signs of life; until the girl began scavenging old apartment complexes. Although her food supply would last her more than a month, the people who used to live here had some really strange-looking foods.

Nearby, she heard something tapping lightly. Pretending not to notice, she continued shuffling through a pantry, as her ears tracked the footsteps. They were in the same room. Each step sounded like it was backing away from her.

Suddenly spinning around, the girl took-out her pistol and pointed it at the source. Too late. Her eyes managed to catch a glimpse of the figure's long hair before it dashed out the front door. A person? In an over-eager jolt, she knocked down the door in chase. Left. She turned. As the girl was about to pursue the figure, she heard an energy-sound changing behind her.

"Don't move!" said a voice.

More English words she did not know, but she understood the tone. Holstering her pistol she slowly turned around.

"Don't move!" yelled the voice, a tad more desperately this time.

It was a short girl. About four-foot-nine with shoulder-length, black hair. Wearing all black clothing, she had long boots, short-shorts, and a familiar looking jacket. Pointing a long cannon-like weapon at the intruder, she was obviously trying conceal her trembling. The cannon had a blue glow in the nozzle, signifying it was ready to fire.

The two stared at each other for a long minute. The short girl squinted at the others face.

"Hold still," she demanded.

Nodding to whatever she was saying, the girl decided to let the short-one decide what to do next.

Dropping the cannon the short girl quickly drew a long sword out of her jacket. With a sudden burst of speed she dashed forward, grabbed the back of the taller one's head, and pulled her head down, face-to-face. Their eyes stared into each other, as she held the blade to the tall one's neck.

A surprised look appeared on the short girl's face.

"Blue."

"Ao." Their eyes were exactly the same.

"Ao? Is that Japanese?"

'Blue,' 'Japanese,' she knew both of those English words.

"Hi," she responded. Their faces were also the same.

"Then, that means you are…" She stopped in mid-sentence and let go. "It's safe!"

Another girl jumped off the roof behind them. She looked exactly alike the first girl, only with long hair. In her hands she held a large sniper-rifle.

"My name is Lynn," said the short-haired girl pointing toward herself. Then she pointed toward the long-haired girl, "And this is Rose."

Shifting the rifle in her arms, Rose nodded quietly.

"Lynn. Rose," the tall girl repeated.

"Yes, what is your name?" Lynn asked pointing at her.

The girl shrugged her shoulders. She never thought a name would ever be necessary.

"Then how about 'Aoi?'"

"Aoi?"

"Yes. I think the name has something to do with flowers."

She thought for a moment before nodding, "Aoi."

Rose seemed hesitant to approach Aoi, and swiftly ran around her to hide behind Lynn.

"Rose, it's okay. She's B.R.S. Beast."

Rose did not respond with words, yet it was obvious that she did not trust Aoi yet. The acronym reminded Aoi of the bike. Perhaps they would understand it. Motioning them to follow, she led the two strangers to the bike. At the sight of the bike Lynn's eye lit-up in excitement.

"How in the world did you manage to find this?!"

Tilting her head, Aoi frowned. She knew none of those words.

"Hello. Please state your designation."

"Black Rock Shooter number 7-4-4-5-8-9." Lynn replied.

"Confirmed. Hello, B.R.S. number 7-4-4-5-8-9. Prototype Antigravity Combat Bike mark three-point-zero-zero-two awaiting your command."

"Identify surrounding personal."

"Scanning."

Although the beam of light did not startle Aoi this time, she still was caught off-guard by its brightness. Covering her eyes she let out a frustrated grunt.

"Confirmed. B.R.S. numbers 9-2-9-9-9-8 and 7-4-4-5-8-9 and zero all within the proximity."

"Zero?" Rose spoke-up, "Mommy?"

"I don't know if that's the right thing to call her, but yes, she must be the original."

Rose jumped out from behind Lynn, and ran over to Aoi.

"Mommy!" she cheered excitedly as her arms squeezed Aoi.

'Mommy?' This must be an important word. Aoi decided that she must find the meaning to it soon. Also, hugs felt more awkward than she had imagined. Regardless, it appeared the two newcomers now knew who she was. But, the bike identified them with very large numbers, were there more of them? And they looked the same as her, only shorter. Was she one of them? Or were they something more? Family?

"Aoi, do you know who you are?" Lynn asked

English, a strange language. It probably will not be as easy to learn as riding a bike.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4** _(All italicized text is spoken in Japanese)_

The three decided to take the hovercraft back to where Lynn and Rose were hiding. When Aoi told the bike "Vroooom," Lynn laughed, hard; so hard that she almost fell-off the stationary bike. Unfortunately explaining each-others situation proved to be impossible that night. Neither could fully speak the others language. As a result, the majority of the night was spent explaining basic English words. After two days, Aoi managed to convey that she was going 'somewhere,' but was unable to explain why. Assuming that it must be important (since Aoi is 'the original'), Lynn decided that she and Rose would join her.

"Oh-oh-oh! Can I drive?" Lynn asked hopping on the front of the bike. To make sure Aoi understood her question, she acted like she was speeding around corners. "It can't be that different from a helicopter."

Rose spoke up, "You crash land-"

"Shhhh!"

With a nervous look on her face, Aoi nodded.

"Yes! Um… which way?"

Tilting her head, Aoi tried her best to speak the new English words she recently learned, "I doon't oon-dar-sand."

"Uh… A donde est-"

"That's Spanish," Rose interrupted, as she jumped on the bike.

"I-I-know that," Lynn blushed, "I was just thinking she might know some français."

"That's French."

"Wait, really? N-never-mind." Lynn started pointing around her, "Where are we going?"

Rose nodded toward the roadside, "That ditch."

"Rose!" yelled Lynn folding her arms.

Taking a quick glance at the sun-rise, Aoi spun in a circle and pointed East. There was no sense in turning around; adventure lay ahead.

With a thumb-up Lynn chimed, "O.K."

Aoi slowly settled on the bike.

"Tally-hoo!" Lynn took a deep-breath. "Vrooooom!"

Mere moments latter, the girls discovered how mucky ditches are. Consequently, Lynn lost her driving privileges.

"Are we there yet?"

An understandable complaint, they had been on the road for several hours with no sign of civilization, alive or dead. Giving a frustrated sigh, Aoi's annoyance steadily increased from Lynn's repeatedly asked question. The fact that she did not know what she was asking, only served to increase her irritability.

(All italicized text is Japanese) _"Shut-up."_ It was no use.

"Rose, what did she say?"

"You studied Japanese."

"That was over a year ago. How am I supposed to remember a new language with no one to practice with?"

Gritting her teeth, Aoi said it louder, _"Shut-up."_

"See, she said it again."

"Repetition is key... to memorization."

"Only if I know what she was saying!"

At her limit, Aoi gave into her frustration. Swerving off-road, she weaved through the forest without slowing down.

"Rose, I think you made her mad!"

Several near-collisions later, Aoi suddenly spun the tail-end forward, breaking the bike's momentum.

"We-we're alive? Are you insane?! Aoi, you almost killed us!" Lynn began pulling on Rose's arms, which were tightly clamped around her chest. "Let go! We've stopped." With her face buried into Lynn's back, Rose refused to budge. "UUUGH! Seriously, Rose?!"

" _Shut up."_

"Oh! I remember now! She's telling you to be quiet."

As her snarky demeanor remained temporarily out-of-service, Rose neither responded nor moved.

Aoi pointed at the ground beside the bike and asked, _"What is that?"_

Following her finger, Lynn's eyes located a metal door hidden in the moss.

"Hey, that's a supply bunker! Good eye, Aoi!"

Aoi tilted her head, "Soup… bunner?"

"Supply bunker. Although, it might have some canned soup in it too."

"Bleck," Rose mumbled letting go of Lynn.

At-least one of her companions sounded interested in her discovery. In one swift motion, Aoi got off the bike and grabbed her claymore.

"Rose, find a good tree, and signal me if you see any green-eyes seeking up behind us. This could be a trap."

Nodding, Rose grabbed her rifle and disappeared into the woods.

There was that word again.

Trying to expand her English vocabulary, Aoi inquired, "What eyes?"

"Eyes," Lynn pointed at her own. "Blue eyes – good," she added raising her thumbs.

"Blue eyes, good," Aoi repeated.

Lynn snatched a bush's leaf. Pointing at it, she continued, "Green."

"Geen."

Covering one of her eyes with the leaf, she drew her sword and swung it at Aoi's neck. Calmly without flinching, Aoi stayed concentrated on the leaf.

"Green eyes, bad."

"Geen eyes, bod."

"Do you understand?"

"Yes," Aoi nodded quickly.

Lynn sheathed her sword and pointed her canon at the door. "Ready."

After a few unsuccessful tugs, Aoi resorted to prying the door open with her claymore. Groaning as it was forced up, the door nearly snapped off its rusted hinges. Into the dark hole the two stared for several seconds, before Aoi ventured forward, slowly. Fortunately the light from the charged canon was enough to illuminate the way. A musty smell filed the stairwell. Only three flights down, another door awaited the explorers. Silently Lynn motioned Aoi to open it. To Aoi's surprise the door was incredibly light and immediately broke off its hinges. Behind it, a noxious breeze splashed her nose. Regrettably both Aoi and Lynn breathed in a lung-full and began coughing uncontrollably.

"Dead bodies." Lynn groaned.

Covering their mouths, the two entered the room.

Inside were two rotting bodies in the far corner. Lynn approached them casually.

"Shot. Both of them. Looks like it was by energy-rounds."

"Lynn..."

Turning around Lynn saw what Aoi was pointing at. Beside the doorway was another body.

Lynn sighed, "Ah… So that's what happened."

The third body looked like another one of Lynn or Rose. She was not rotting in the traditional sense. With no maggots or flies eating away at it, her body remained unscathed. However, it was dried-out, as if she were a statue of sand. A peaceful expression remained on her face.

"Looks like she reached her limit."

"Many blue eyes?"

Lynn nodded, "Yes, but… She had yellow eyes."

"Yellow?"

"Uh..." Lynn shuffled through a cupboard. "Ah!" Holding up a can of pineapple-chunks, she pointed at the picture. "Yellow."

"Yellow eyes?" Aoi pointed at the body.

"Yes. Yellow-eyes die suddenly."

"Yellow eyes good?"

With a sad look on her face, Lynn averted her gaze. "No… Bad."

Sensing the depressing atmosphere, Aoi decided to change the subject.

 _"_ _Is that food?"_ she asked as she approached the cupboard.

"Food, yes. Canned food."

"Cant food."

Lynn let-out a small giggle. "Canned food."

Aoi leaned in. Her face squinted a mere inch-or-two from the can of pineapples. "Canted food."

Lynn would have burst into laughter, if it were not for the stench filling the room. In a poor attempt to hold it in, she buried her face into her sleeve and bobbed back and forth.

Aoi smiled lightly.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

As Lynn continued piling supplies on a table, Aoi noticed one of the bodies was holding a piece of paper in his hand. Upon further inspection, it appeared to be an old monochrome photo. With her eyes suspiciously locked on the body's face (or lack-of-face), she slowly reached out, before quickly retracting with photo in hand. Her eyes remained lock on the target for a few more seconds, inwardly expecting it to suddenly jump at her for taking the photo. Never-the-less it remained inert.

"What you find there?"

Coming from behind, Lynn's unexpectedly-close voice startled Aoi. With a quick jump-spin she point her pistol at the source.

"Hey! Calm-down."

Realizing her mistake, Aoi quickly holstered the pistol. _"Sorry,"_ she said apologetically.

Sighing Lynn shook her head, "No. You should react like that around here. It'll keep you alive."

Returning her attention back to the photo, Aio could make out a family of five people.

 _"_ _Family,"_ she said to herself.

" _Family..._ family!" Lynn smiled, "I remember, now." She pointed at each person in the photo showing Aoi the English words for the relations. " _Dad –_ dad, _sisters_ – sisters, _brother_ – brother." She paused, pointing at the final figure, "Ummmm..."

 _"_ _Mom."_

"Oh-right! _Mom_ – mom."

'Mom' sounded really close to this 'Mommy' word.

"Mom? Rose name Aoi, Mommy."

"Y-yes... You mean, you don't know? We are your clones."

"I doont undersand."

Lynn struggled to find easier words. "You are… we are… Rose and Lynn are clones… ummm..."

Aoi tilted her head, "Cloon?"

"Aoi is Lynn's and Rose' Mom."

Surprisingly this fact did not seem to faze Aoi. It merely served to increase the questions spinning around in her head.

" _Ooooh._ Who Dad?"

Turning a bright red, Lynn's face turned away. "Th-there is no d-dad."

"No Dad?"

"No Dad."

"I doont undersand."

Flustered, Lynn busied herself by rapidly loading-up Aoi's arms with supplies.

"Never-mind… I don't know how to explain it."

Aoi never thought she would be a mom so suddenly. None of the stories that she watched had prepared her for this moment. Then again, she had no memory of having daughters, and Lynn said there was no father. Aoi's thoughts continued to drift. Maybe Lynn and Rose were advanced machines? No… Although machines tend to have similar attitudes, they do not have those squishy parts like Lynn has… Maybe they were all aliens, and Aoi has a secret forgotten identity as a giant octopus! No… Aoi figured she would have remembered something like that. Perhaps those old stories were influencing her thoughts too much. Lynn's voice interrupted the rabbit-trail that Aoi's mind was engrossed in.

"That's everything we need. Let's go… Wh-what-are-you-staring-at?!" Lynn yelled swinging her arms over her chest.

Oops. Aoi had been staring at them since the machine thought. Forgetting about the language barrier, Lynn began rambling.

"Y-yours will grow more too! Clones have accelerated growth until we physically reach twenty human-years. You will look like me when you reach twenty… well, a lot taller, but the same. Oh, and Rose is a later model. She's still in the middle of her accelerated growth. That's why she looks so much younger… Um… You didn't understand any of that. Did you?"

She seemed defensive… and slightly proud. Why did she mention Rose?

"Rose?"

"Right. Rose is waiting. Let's go."

Upon emerging from the bunker, Lynn called out to Rose, who immediately dropped down from a nearby tree.

"Any sisters?" she asked calmly.

"One. Reached her limit."

Rose did not respond, but immediately turned around and ran into the woods.

"Rose?" Aoi asked with slight concern in her voice.

"She'll be right back."

Moments after they finished loading the bike, Rose re-emerged. With a single flower in her hand she walked over to the hole. Placing it on the first step down, she spoke softly.

"Rest peacefully."

Lynn nudged Aoi, who was watching attentively. " _Good-bye,_ Rose said."

Aoi nodded. Gazing back at the hole, she whispered, _"Good-bye."_

Few words were spoken, as the trio rode out of the woods into an enormous hilly plan. Bowing down, the tall grass nearly tickled the bottom of the hover-bike as it flew over. Small flocks of startled birds would randomly take-off, flying into the colorful sunset. In the dips between the hills, fire-flies danced inside the shade.

Merely ten minutes passed, before the hover-bike rung-out an obnoxiously loud beep. Immediately following the noise, it auto-landed and powered down without an explanation. Aoi, tried saying "vrooom" several times with differing tones, but the bike no longer responded.

"It's dead, Jim," Rose commented with a small yawn.

Dismounting, Aoi grabbed the manual from the bike and shoved it into Lynn's hands.

"What? I have to fix the thing that I'm not allowed to drive?"

She stared at Aoi's blank expression for a moment before opening the book. In an attempt to get comfortable, Lynn set the book on the dashboard and leaned forward. Quickly giving into boredom, Aoi wondered around the area. While Lynn continued scanning through the pages, Rose fell-asleep against her back. Since the sun was beginning to hide behind the hill-tops, they were rapidly loosing daylight.

While crickets and birds sung away, a half-hour passed by.

"What? That's it?"

Lynn jumped-up nearly knocking a bewildered Rose off the hover-bike.

"My pillow..." Rose sighed.

Opening a hidden compartment, Lynn pulled out a large role of flexible solar panels.

Venting her frustration from loosing her 'pillow,' Rose teased, "It runs off star-light?"

With her tongue stuck-out at Rose, Lynn began spreading out the panels on the ground.

Aoi pointed at them, "What?"

"Uh… sun-light makes power, and… these… um..."

Aoi shook her head, "I doont undersand."

"Maybe you should try explaining it in Spanish."

"Common Rose, help me out!"

Swiping her hand through the air, Rose caught a fire-fly. With Aoi's captive attention, she pointed at it.

"Light." Motioning at the colorful horizon, she added, "Light." She placed the fire-fly on a solar panel. "Light is vrooom."

Unamused, Lynn voiced her opinion, "That was a terrible explanation."

"Ooooooh!" Aoi's face lit-up. "Light is vrooooooom!"

Rose smiled proudly.

"How did she-" Lynn stopped mid-sentence and squatted down. "Rose, do you hear that?"

Tilting her head up, Rose listened quietly. Sensing her companion's caution, Aoi cupped her ears and scanned the horizon. Half a minute passed. In the distance, Aoi thought she saw something moving. Concentrating at the possible shadow, she could just make-out a low humming noise.

"I hear it," Rose whispered.

"It probably heard the bike's beep."

Matching Lynn's voice level, Aoi asked, "Bod?"

"Yes, bad." With a finger over her lips she added, "Shhhh."


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

"Stay here and don't move," was the last thing Lynn told Aoi, before she and Rose disappeared into the tall grass. Aoi did not like being left behind.

Waiting was too boring. Besides, she wanted to get a better view of the 'bad' shadow. Venturing into the grass, Aoi found a closer hill-top to watch from.

"Mommy!" The hushed, surprised voice came from the ground.

Lying on her stomach, a barely-visible Rose had her rifle pointed in the shadow's direction.

Tugging on Aoi's arm she whispered, "Get down."

After Aoi's back was forcefully grounded, Rose handed her a pair of binoculars. While Aoi fiddled with the correct orientation of the binoculars, Rose turned her attention back through her scope. Green. With the binoculars everything had a greenish tint, yet the large shadow somehow became slightly more visible through them. Unfortunately Aoi still could not determine what it was.

In the dark three-hundred meters away from the shadow, a small blue flame lit,. Cannon shots flew through the air hitting their target. Roaring to life, the shadow lit spot lights and aimed them at the attacker. With the bright lights Aoi could make out more details. In the shape of a massive flee the metallic machine towered about five stories tall. Various weapons and sensors were mounted all over the outer shell. Seeming to defy gravity, several pointed legs effortlessly moved the machine around the hills.

Lynn immediately began dodging the long range cannons, as she continued running clock-wise around the machine. Just as Aoi was about to stand up to help, Rose swiped her off balance. Landing with a face-full of dirt, Aoi groaned.

 _"_ _Hey!"_

"Stay."

Aoi looked back through the binoculars.

Spiraling closer and closer to the machine, Lynn had to duck, jump, and slide out of differing weapons. Each type of weapon had a specific firing radius. One moment Lynn was tumbling out of bullet's paths, the next moment she was side-stepping high-intensity lasers. Returning fire when possible, she continued to close-in.

Eventually Lynn was fighting to stand beneath it. Aoi heard the motionless Rose slow-down her breathing. Holding her blade up, Lynn diverted one of the lasers back at the machine. As-if it were an injured animal, it leaned back on its rear-legs releasing large amounts of heat into the air. Into the fresh hole Lynn dug her blade and pried-open a small panel. The blue flame lit in Rose' left eye.

KA-BAM!

The intense sound of the riffle nearly made Aoi jump out of her skin. The shot went straight into the open panel. Though nothing visually exploded, a shock-wave emitted from the machine, ripping the surrounding grass out of the ground. As gravity suddenly took-hold of the machine, its massive-weight sunk the pointed feet several meters into the ground.

"Run!"

Rose was already on her feet with her eye still ablaze.

"It can sense me now."

Ringing out an alarm, silo doors opened on the machine's roof. Already on-top, Lynn managed to fire rounds into several of them, igniting the warheads and destroying large areas of the machine; but three managed to launch. They were headed for Rose.

Running down hill, Aoi watched as a missile exploded on their previous hiding spot. Grabbing Aoi's hand, Rose stopped her from running into where the second missile hit. In a singular motion Rose pointed her rifle directly above them and shot the third missile in the air. The three consecutive shock-waves were highly disorienting. Dizzily Rose stumbled around before falling on her rear.

In the distance, Aoi heard the machine's low hum slowly die away. Lynn had finally finished it off.

"Whew. That was too close," Rose grumbled with her head still swaying.

 _"_ _Are you okay?"_

"Can you check on Lynn? Go..." she pointed, "Lynn."

Nodding Aoi ran towards the heap of metal. Lit by the burning debris around her, Aoi found Lynn resting beside an open hatch on the main body. Upon further inspection, Aoi noticed the cuts and bruises all over Lynn. Covered in char and mud, she was holding her left leg.

 _"_ _Are you okay?!"_ Aoi demanded with concern.

"Yes. Just a bullet wound… Went clean through. OW! And a laser nicked me there too."

Blood dripped from the spot she was holding. Her face was a pale white.

"Is it cold to you?"

Noticing Lynn's shivering, Aoi immediately picked her up and carried her next to one of the burning scrap piles. After laying her on the ground, Aoi propped-up the injured leg on some rubble. Stripping the jacket off Lynn, she wrapped it tightly around the leg.

"Ow!-Ow! Are you trying to make me pass out?"

Since Lynn was still shivering, Aoi lay down next to her and wrapped her arms around her.

"W-why are you snuggling with m-me? I'm not that hurt."

In no condition to move, Lynn did not resist and slowly began to close her eyes. Worrying about a concussion, Aoi shook her.

 _"_ _Stay awake."_

"Huh? I don't understand."

Thinking of a way to keep Lynn awake, Aoi searched through her memories of the story-chips. One idea came to her mind.

 _"_ _Sing,"_ Aoi requested.

"Sing? _Why?_ "

" _Sing."_

"But-"

" _Sing!"_

Lynn let out a sigh and remained quiet for a moment, before she began singing softly.

"Oh... once peaceful grand nation,

why did-you-let your envy grow?

Can't you see what you've become?

An arrogant conqueror of the world.

Our burning flames, lit to serve,

will smite the foes you have made.

Death, to the rebels. Dominion, over the masses.

The world will grovel at your feet.

Not by your blood, have you won,

but by-that of my sister-flames'.

We will murder and we will die,

for your shameless lust and selfish greed.

Asleep, our beloved mother awaits.

The Beast who could end this fate.

Our allegiance lies in her dreams alone,

Beware, oh nation, of her dreams."

Following the singing, Rose joined-in as she approached.

"Oh mighty nation what have we done?

Released, a witch takes the Beat's place.

One by one, our allegiance falls,

to the green-eyed temptress.

Her dreams are similar to yours,

beware the fate that you earned.

Our tears, we shed as we fight,

the flames who once were our allies.

Will one day our mother awake?

And set us free from the witch's fate."

Taking off her jacket, Rose lay down on the other side of Lynn and spread it over them.

"I always knew you were cold-hearted."

"Oh, be quiet."

"My point is proved."

Watching the smoke twirl up into the star-lit sky, Aoi felt her eye-lids getting heavier. Both Lynn and Rose seemed saddened by the song they sung. It must have some significant meaning to them. In silence the three lay. Sparks danced into the wind before fading away. Crickets' songs chimed-in with the fire's cracking, as the world slowly faded blank.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

Flinching from a rain-drop that tickled her noise, Aoi woke-up and squinted at the sky. An overcast hid the morning sun, while heavier storm clouds sporadically floated across the sky. A chilled breeze swept in.

Glancing beside her, Aoi saw Lynn still lay asleep. Miraculously all her minor cuts and bruises were already healed. After sitting up, Aoi slowly unwrapped the jacket around her leg. The inner layers of the jacket were completely soaked with blood; yet scar-tissue already mended the major leg-wounds. It was as if a week of healing happened overnight. Unfortunately Lynn still felt cold and looked pail. Her blood supply was still extremely low.

Standing up slowly, Aoi hung the blood soaked jacket on a metal post. Rose was missing. Unconcerned, Aoi figured she was back with the bike. With curiosity growing, she took a walk around the huge heap of metal. Interestingly it did not resemble anything she had seen before. It was obviously a form of tank, but not from where she originally awoke. The way it merely glided across the ground despite its mass, was incredible. Aoi paused. It fell when Rose shot this spot. Over the hole she placed her hand. There were no jets, wings, propellers, or anything. It simply had stood on pointed feet. Reaching into the hole, Aoi pulled out a small damaged cylinder. Even-though it was mutilated from the impact, it remained in a single piece.

Hearing foot steps behind her, Aoi spun around.

With a protein-bar in her opened hand, Rose offered a trade, "Let me show you,"

After exchanging the component for food, Aoi watched Rose reconnect a severed wire. A single, circular rainbow emitted from the device. Following the moment the rainbow faded away, the component lifted Rose to the height that it once held the machine.

 _"_ _So cool."_

With one hand on the component Rose stood in the air as if she were on ground. Merely five seconds later, she let go of the component and landed on her feet. Rubbing her hands together, she shivered.

 _"_ _Cold?"_

"It's freezing, if that's what you're asking."

In a solid block of ice the component fell to the ground and shattered on impact. The machine must have used its enormous amount of heat to keep the component from freezing, or perhaps the component kept the machine from overheating.

Before the two could make their way back to Lynn, a down-poor of rain caught them by surprise. Aoi didn't mind the rain. It was as natural as sunshine to her.

Rose moaned, "Uuuuuuugh!"

 _"_ _What?"_

"I'm not a duck! I hate getting wet."

"Rose, water, bod?"

"Yes!"

They found Lynn sitting in the rain, scrubbing the blood, ash, and dirt off herself.

"You need to stay dry," Rose informed her.

"After I'm done."

"But your shaking, you need to stay warm."

"I'll be fine. The tank should still be hot near the center."

"Lynn…"

"Just wait by the hatch. I'll be there in a minute."

Since an argument would only increase the amount of time Lynn spent in the rain, Rose motioned Aoi to follow her. About three minutes later, Lynn met them at the hatch. She was breathing hard, as if she had ran several miles.

"You really need to rest."

"I'll be f-" Lynn collapsed to her knees. "Ok…"

"Mommy, can you carry Lynn?"

Lynn tried her best to translate between her breaths, "Lynn… Aoi…. _h_ _old…_ "

With a single nod, Aoi swept-up Lynn.

"Lynn, good?"

Lynn nodded dizzily.

"Alright let's see if this thing has anything useful."

Venturing past the heavily damaged hall-ways, the three scavengers found what appeared to be the main control room. Of the crew, only their skeletons and clothing remained. The machine had been in auto-battle-mode for years.

Rose spoke-up, "Nothing useful here."

"But it's warm."

"More like hot. We'll be dry in mere minutes, just standing here."

Aoi set Lynn down in a chair, before approaching a metal door that had several outward dents.

Leaning forward, Lynn rested her chin in her palm, "It looks like someone was trying to get out."

After forcing the lock off the door, Aoi shoved it open. Inside were two dry bodies.

"Yellow eyes?" Aoi asked.

"Yes. Looks like they did a number on the engines in there. I was wondering why the machine didn't use the sound-based weapons."

A small necklace lay on the lap of one of the bodies.

 _"_ _What is that?"_

The necklace lit-up, "WHAT IS THAT?"

Without a second thought, Aoi swiped the necklace off the body.

Lynn panicked. "What-no! Stop! Do you want want to get contaminated?"

 _"_ _WHAT. NO. STOP. DO YOU WANT CONTAMINATED?"_

The device, it talked again. Aoi held it up to Lynn.

"S-stop. Hold still."

 _"_ _HOLD STILL."_

Doing as she was told, Aoi silently waited. Grabbing a first-aid kit off the wall, Lynn pulled-out a large sealed container of 99% isopropanol alcohol; which she immediately began dumping all-over the device, Aoi's hand, and Aoi's arm.

Rose voiced her concern, "Mommy, be more careful."

 _"_ _MOMMY, BE CAREFUL."_

Aoi smiled, "I undersand!"

"ERROR."

After Lynn was fully satisfied with the sanitation of the device (and of Aoi), the three inspected the necklace closer. Simplistically designed, it ran off a small battery, had one charge port, and sported a single LED. Three buttons were for power and volume control. It seemed to be preset to translate English and Japanese. Unfortunately, it still had a limited vocabulary. As a result, longer sentences usually resulted in errors.

After strapping it around her neck, Aoi decided now would be the best time to get some answers.

 _"_ _Why do you call me Mommy? What is a_ clone? _"_

While motioning for Aoi to sit down, Lynn explained, "We are copies of you. That makes you our mom."

Aoi sat on the floor, _"Who copied me?"_

"We don't know his name, but he was a Japanese who worked for our military."

 _"_ _Your military?"_

"The military that we were in. I call it 'our military,' because we clones did practically everything. We served a powerful, corrupt nation… Ironically it was once called The 'United' States. In the end, everyone began calling it 'The Nation.'"

 _"How many copies?"_

"999,626 clones, including us."

 _"Why?"_

"To fight their war," Lynn's tone dropped in disgust. "They wanted to conquer and control the world. We were the tools."

 _"What happened to everyone?"_

"I…" she looked away, "I don't want to talk about it."

Rose filled in, "After several years into the war, many of our sisters sided with a witch… their eyes turned green. Just as greedy as The Nation, the witch waged war against everyone."

Bitterness seeped from Lynn's lips, "The war killed everyone."

Glancing into the other room, Aoi inquired, _"Wh_ _o are_ _the yellow eyes?"_

Neither respond. Aoi asked again.

 _"Wh_ _o are_ _the yellow eyes?"_

An uneasy minute of silence passed, before Lynn abruptly changed the subject.

"How did you wake up?"

With some difficulty Aoi managed to describe the place that she woke-up in. It would have been easier to explain if she knew what everything was called. Instead, she resorted to describing things as best she could.

"I see. That must have been Territory J-One, formerly called Japan… They were the first ally we betrayed. Then… how did you get here?"

 _"_ _A_ _n_ _'escape pod' threw me into space. I landed here."_

"Wow. I'm surprised a continental escape pod still worked. They usually require maintenance every month."

 _"_ _It crashed."_

"Then you're lucky to be alive." Lynn was silent momentarily, "So, where are we going?"

 _"What?"_

"Why are we traveling east?"

Aoi hesitated. Lynn did not seem to be the type of person to just go-out on an adventure. If she told her, Lynn would probably be furious.

"Why-"

Sensing Aoi's embarrassment, Rose cut in, "Lynn, I think that's enough for now. We should get moving."

Lynn sighed, "Your right. Since this thing stopped transmitting, scout machines could start combing in the area in an hour or so." Lynn slowly stood-up.

 _"The witch."_ Aoi said under her breath.

"What?"

Making eye contact, Aoi's voice remained calm, _"I want to find the witch."_

Rose walked over to Aoi and spoke quietly, "You can't 'find' the witch. The witch finds you."

"That's what every green-eyed sister tells us," Lynn clarified.

The confidence in Aoi's statement compelled the clones to shiver, _"Then, let's be found."_


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

By the time they emerged from the wreckage, the clouds had parted, and a blinding sun had begun drying the wet grass. Scattered clouds cast moving shadows across the hills. Eagerly birds hopped around the ground, looking for surfaced worms.

Rose ran off again, probably to find flowers. After Aoi carried Lynn back to the bike, Lynn busied herself with repacking the solar panels. Unfortunately the bike did not have a charge meter; so, the girls simply assumed it had enough charge.

"My jacket!" Lynn remembered. "Would you get it for me?" Nodding, Aoi turned around and walked back to the wreck.

It took a minute for Aoi to find where she left it. Surprisingly the rain had washed the jacket clean. No trace of blood stained it. Glancing over, Aoi saw Rose place a couple daylilyes in front of the hatch. Just who were these yellow-eyes that they felt so sorry for? Why do they not like talking about them?

 _"_ _Why do you like flowers so much? Is it because your name is Rose?"_

Glancing back, Rose responded, "They grow, bloom, then die; yet there will always be more. Alone, a single flower blooms beautifully for a brief time. With proper care, an orchard never dies out; its beauty lasts." Rose turned her attention back to the hatch. "Rest peacefully."

After she was done, Rose approached Aoi, took her hand, and proceeded walking back to the bike.

"We clones were not given a name, when we were created. We only had a number. Throughout our brief training, our identity was a number. After a unit of clones passed training, that unit would give each-other names. It became a tradition over time."

 _"_ _Did you like roses a lot back then?"_

"To this day, I have never seen a real rose. One sister in my unit saw that I liked flowers. So, she named me after the prettiest flower that she knew… One day, I'll find a real rose."

"Lynn's name?"

"Her name has to do with its meaning. She never explained the meaning to me."

By the time they made it back to the hover bike, Lynn had everything packed and ready to go.

"Vrooooom!" As the hover-bike glided across the hills, mountain-tops came into view. If they keep traveling at this rate, Aoi figured they would make it to the first mountain top by tomorrow-noon.

"There's a huge city just over the mountain range," is what Lynn told her before they left. "I haven't been there myself. It's possible a few of our sisters might be hiding there." Before Aoi could comment, the battery in the necklace died. Luckily Aoi had found in the supplies, a matching cable that could charge the necklace off the bike.

More clones. An uneasy feeling crept-up in Aoi's chest. Would they also call her 'Mommy,' like Rose. Would they expect her to make important decisions, like Lynn? One thing Aoi knew for sure was that she wanted to save them from the witch. But.. what if she saw green-eyed clones? Would she fight them? They betrayed everyone, right? Just who is 'everyone?' Did they rebel exclusively against The Nation? No. They willingly fought their own sisters. Aoi wondered how many of her clones were still alive. It would be wasteful, if either-side intentionally sent all their clones to their deaths in the war. Should there not be more alive clones running around? Where they all hiding from the witch? Something distracted Aoi from her thoughts.

Turning the translator back on, Aoi asked, _"What is that?"_ She pointed at a small brown blob hiding in the grass.

"It's just a baby grizzly bear." Lynn responded uninterested.

Parking the bike Aoi decided to investigate. Scurrying left and right, the cub groaned as if calling for help. With her eyes locked on, Aoi slowly bent over to a crawling stance.

 _"I thought bears were pretend animals."_

"Teddy bears are not real, but the stuffed animals are supposed to represent the real thing… somehow. Real bears are stronger than humans. A lot of people feared them."

 _"They are strong?"_

"Strong for an animal, yes. However, they are still weak."

 _"Weak?"_

"They are strong compared to humans… not clones."

Carefully Aoi crawled towards the cub. When he saw her, the cub stood on it's hind legs and let out a weak growl.

 _"Cute!"_ Aoi whispered eagerly. As she continued her approach, she began mimicking the bear's growls.

 _"_ _Growl!"_

To Lynn's surprise he did not try to run away. As Aoi got closer, the bear's growls sounded more and more friendly. Within arm's reach, he slowly sat down. Aoi stopped and sat in front of him. Leaning forward, the cub nuzzled her face. Playfully petting his head, Aoi giggled.

"It's unusual for a bear to be this far out in the open. Perhaps it's lost."

Ignoring Lynn's comment, Aoi started playing with him. While giggling uncontainably, she would tackle the cub and run off behind a hill. Energetically the bear would chase after and jump on her. Faking left and going right, Aoi would run past the bear, who would follow. Several minutes later, they found themselves far enough form the bike, that Lynn 'had' to ride it over to where they were.

"Mommy! Don't run off so far! Lynn's driving is scary."

Perking up, Aoi faced the mountain's woods, which was considerably closer.

"Wait. Aoi, did you intentionally lure it back here?"

 _"_ _Growl!"_

In silence Aoi waited before trying again.

 _"_ _Gro_ _oooo_ _wl!"_

GGGRRRRRRROOOOOOWWWWL!

Emerging from the woods, a large mother grizzly approached them.

Surprised, Rose almost fell of the bike, "Woah! She's huge!"

Excitedly the cub ran circles around Aoi a few times before running off to his mother.

As if to acknowledge Aoi, the mother bear growled one more time, before she and the cub disappeared into the woods.

"I'm impressed. A mother bear never trusts anyone near her babies."

"She seemed to think of Mommy as her equal..." Rose commented under her breath.

Without a response, Aoi mounted the bike and rode it into the woods slowly.

 _"_ _Tell me more about the witch. Where did she come from?"_

Lynn stared at the ground, "Aoi..."

 _"_ _Please."_

She sighed, "Mission 2689. I don't know much about it. Originally it was supposed to be kept top secret, but… Anyways, our military sent an unusually large squad of our sisters to take-out some experiment base."

 _"_ _How many?"_

"I think it was twenty or twenty-five. Rarely would they send squads larger than seven…" Lynn paused. "Only one sister returned, B.R.S. number 4-6-3-5-0-0, Saphire. Even though she still had blue eyes, she was mentally traumatized. Paranoid, she did not even recognize her own sisters as allies. After a week of trying to 'stabilize' her, the military eventually gave-up and threw her into a cell. They regarded her as a 'defective unit.' While she continued struggling to even remember how to speak words, they sent several squads to scout the remains of the base… None returned. One week later, the sisters who had disappeared, came back with green-eyes. They began strategically attacking our bases. Once again, there were more than two sides in the war; The Nation, the resistance, and the witch. We never saw the witch, but every green-eyed sister praised her as their mother. It's said that if she finds us and we refuse to let her change our eyes, she'll eat us."

" _What happened to_ Saphire _?"_

"In the following chaos, several of my sisters abducted Saphire… They planned to take her to you, hoping that seeing you would help calm her… They never made it."

 _"Why?"_

"We think the witch intercepted them."

After a moment of silence, Aoi inquired again, _"Who are the yellow eyes?"_

Through the remainder of the day's trip, no one spoke-up. There was only silence.


	9. Chapter 9

**Note from author:**

Hello! Crimson Wound (A.K.A. "TheOneCut" or "DaOneCut" on other websites), here. Sorry I missed the previous Friday-deadline for uploading this chapter. Part of the reason is 'life;' another major part is that I want to do my best work. Thus, I try not to rush myself, and occasionally personal-anxiety nullifies my writing process.

In preparation for writing the following chapters, I re-read what I've written so far. Unavoidably, I found mistakes and edited them. I did not add any content to these previous chapters; so, you do not have to re-read them.

Also please note that I post 'progress updates' on my profile page. If you are curious about the kind of progress I'm making, I usually post updates alongside the chapter uploads.

Thank you for your support and interest in my little fan-fiction story. Y'all are awesome!

 **Chapter 9**

Since it would be difficult to safely traverse the woods at night, the three decided to stop and rest. Lynn spent the next couple hours teaching Aoi more English. Eventually a long yawn put the lessons on hold for the remainder of the night. Beside their camp, a small river gently flowed. Swishing down the mountain, the fresh water sounds easily persuaded Aoi to drift to sleep. She would need it for the next day.

Waking-up to a loud splash, Aoi let out a sizable yawn. Annoyingly, swimming was the first thing Lynn decided to do in the morning. As Aoi rubbed her eyes, she walked over to the water's edge.

 _"_ _Why do you like water so much?"_

"No particular reason." Lynn splashed at Aoi, who flinched at the cold drops.

 _"_ _Does it have to do with your name? Is it like how_ Rose _likes flowers?"_

"'You remind me of a lake, and you are always soaked...' that's what one of my sisters told me. So, she named me Lynn. It means lake."

 _"_ _It suites you well."_

"Yah. Actually, I like that we gave each-other names. In the end, it strengthened our bond as sisters. We acknowledged each-other as a person, while our military called each of us as a number."

 _"Perhaps, they wanted the clones to discover their own names, their own identity."_

"No. No, they only saw us as tools, nothing more."

Being splashed-at again, Aoi covered her eyes with her arm. From behind, she felt someone someone tacking her. Before Aoi knew what was happening, Lynn jerked her leg, sending a startled Aoi into the river. Briefly all she heard were the sounds of swirling water, as her attacker let go. Upon surfacing, the sounds of Rose' and Lynn's laughter brought clarity to the situation.

Frustratingly Aoi's attempt at being mad, quickly dissolved away from the sight of her clone's uncontrollable laughter.

Rose tried to speak between laughs, "We thought… we th-… you could use… a bath."

 _"_ _You can just ask next time."_ Sending a large wave toward her clones, Aoi smiled at the light-hearted atmosphere. Could it last like this forever?

As Aoi had predicted, they managed to ride the hover-bike to the first mountain peak by noon. Admiring the view, Aoi stopped to soak it in.

"Oo-oo! I remember something from the manual." Eagerly Lynn shoved Aoi to the side. "Engage glide mode."

"Engaging glide mode. Warning: 'glide mode' is untested on this model. Please use caution."

Long rods extended on both sides of the hover bike. From them, pointed wings of thin energy formed. Aoi tapped one of the wings with her foot. Even-though it made a disturbing fizzle-sound, the wing seemed to keep its form.

With a concerned tone, Rose voiced her disapproval, "Lynn..."

"Common, Rose. Where is your sense of adventure?"

 _"Ready?"_

"Yah! Let's go!"

Aoi rode the bike closer to the cliff.

"M-Mommy! NO!"

Without a moment's hesitation, Aoi hit the accelerator.

As the screams of a Rose echoed across the valley, the hover-bike soared through the air.

 _"Why is it going so slow?"_ Aoi yelled over Rose.

"We are gliding, not flying. It's like falling forward slowly."

 _"Ooh."_

Forcibly a gust of wind tried to send to bike off-course. As Aoi fought with the controls, the wings flickered off and on.

"Detecting abnormalities in power stability. Directing more power to gliding apparatus."

"Let me down! Let me down!"

Stabilizing their descent, Aoi tried to calm Rose. _"It'_ _s a shorter trip_ _this way._ _Look._ _We are already half-way across."_

Rose's response consisted of helpless whimpering.

"Don't worry. As long as the battery doesn't suddenly die, we'll make it."

 _"_ _But_ _Lynn, the battery doesn't have a gauge."_

"Oh. Haha. Your right. No battery gauge. Hugh-!"

Rose squeezed Lynn's chest tighter. "If I die, I'll kill you!" she threatened.

"That doesn't make sense!-Rose, you're squeezing me too hard!"

Ignoring Lynn's complaint, Rose held a death-grip, until the bike reached the other side. Automatically its wings retracted.

"See? That wasn't so bad. We saved ourselves a few hours, t-"

Rose covered Lynn's mouth, "Shh!"

Aoi heard a high-pitch hum echoing through the valley. It was getting louder.

"Scouts. They probably saw us."

Prematurely the translator's battery died mid-sentence.

Aoi sought clarification, "Danger?"

"Yes."

"Lynn, Rose, hide."

"But-"

"Hide." Aoi shoved her clones off the bike. _"Engage battle mood."_

"Engaging battle mode. Error: Ignition is required to power projectiles."

Out of the bike's front, twin barrels emerged.

"Aoi, when did you… never-mind." Saving the question for later, Lynn took her weapons from the bike.

Quickly Rose grabbed her rifle, "Mommy, be careful. I'll support you from here."

"I'll protect Rose." Lynn pointed at her left eye, "Use your flame."

As Aoi's left eye ignited, the end of the barrels began glowing blue.

"Ignition detected. Battle mode is active."

Aoi nodded before riding away.

Charging toward the sounds, Aoi followed the edge of the mountain. Subtly a small machine appeared beside her, matching her speed. In the spit-second the prism-shaped drone opened fire, Aoi hit the accelerator. It missed. When the small, purple pellets made contact with the mountain's side, the wall crumbed into pebbles. Aoi turned her attention ahead. Weaving in-and-out of the woods, she dodged the scout's fire.

Unfortunately she could not completely fly out into the open. If she gave Rose a clear shot, the drone would also have a clear shot. More scouts appeared out of the brush. Five-no-seven total. Using the mountain's side as a quarter-pipe, Aoi rode up it sideways and spun the bike around. While returning fire, she hit the decelerator. A shock-wave of counter energy stalled the bike mid-air. Several shots found their mark, sending two drones tumbling down the cliff. Immediately re-engaging the accelerator, Aoi flew past the remaining drones. After sharply pulling-up, the drones flipped around. In full pursuit, they remained merely a couple meters away from her rear.

Aoi found herself heading straight for a cliff.

 _"_ _Engage gliding mode. Delay, seven seconds."_

"Engaging glide mode in seven…"

At full-speed, the bike soared off the cliff.

"Six..."

Calmly Aoi grabbed her claymore and let-go of the bike.

"Five..."

While the bike fell father away, Aoi spun around. Passing the girl, the drones charged toward the bike. Her claymore sliced through two of the drones as they flew by her.

"Four..."

A blue crown of energy manifested on Aoi's head; as blue spiked-energy emitted from the bottom and back-side of her boots.

"Three..."

Firing her pistol, Aoi destroyed two drones.

"Two..."

The remaining drone spun around and darted toward Aoi, who was holstering her pistol and blade.

"One..."

Catching the drone in her hands, Aoi crushed its weapons.

"Gliding mode engaged."

As the bike drifted away, Aoi's boots gave her a steady decent. With slight curiosity, she stared at the helpless drone for a few seconds. Angrily it chirp and fidgeted. Weak. Loosing interest, Aoi squeezed and twisted the metal body until it collapsed under pressure. Sparks flew from the deformed shell. Too weak. Casually tossing it to the side, she watched the bike glide toward Lynn, who was eagerly getting ready to catch it. Why is everything so weak?

Wide-eyed, Lynn stared at Aoi's appearance as she approached them. For once, Lynn was speechless. Although she was physically the same as before, Aoi's demeanor seemed different. Her presence felt like it was emitting in shock-waves, yet nothing tangible was expelling from her. Nearly expressionless, the look in her eyes was one from someone with absolute authority. Without a word Aoi stowed her claymore and mounted the bike.

Rose spoke, "A tattoo."

 _"_ _What?"_ The tone in her voice made Rose shiver. Aoi turned the translator on and held it to Rose's mouth, hoping it would have enough battery-power left to translate.

"A tattoo," Rose repeated, pointing at Aoi's back. Luckily the translator was able to convey the word before dieing again.

So, it's a tattoo. Aoi had always wandered what the warm traces on her back were. Since she only felt it when she had the crown, Aoi assumed it was an important symbol related to her power. The fact Rose just-now noticed it, also meant the tattoo was only visible with the crown.

Taking a deep breath, Aoi closed her eyes. Slowly the crown dissolved into a mist that dispersed into the wind. The energy from her boots retreated, as her eye's flame faded. Unable to feel the warmth of the tattoo, Aio wanted to make sure it actually disappeared.

"Tattoo?" she asked.

"No." Rose reported placing her hand on Aoi's back.

Opening her eyes, Aoi patted the seat of the bike. Obediently her clones sat-down. While the translator charged, Aoi rode further into the mountain range. It was another quiet trip.


	10. Chapter 10

**Note from the author: (12/6/16)**

Hello, I hope y'all are doing well. I'm not even going to try to explain all that has been distracting me from writing all this time, but just know that I needed that break from writing. So here is chapter 10. Chapter 11 and the following chapters should come out every Saturday as usual.

Also, I created a small pole regarding the characters of this story. If you want to participate, you can find it in my profile.

 **Chapter 10**

Had she intimidated them? Both Lynn and Rose had been unusually quiet. Even without the translator, they normally would chat between themselves. Also, Rose was sitting in the middle for the first time. Decreasing their speed, Aoi switched the translator back-on.

 _"_ _Are you okay?"_

Lynn tried to reply quickly, yet the hesitation in her voice was clear.

"O-of course. We are fine."

Aoi decided to be direct, _"Did I scare you?"_

Before Lynn could answer, Rose replied, "Yes."

What does that kind of fear feel like, to see someone stronger than you? The question rolled around Aoi's mind. When Aoi did not voice a respond, Lynn shifted uneasily in her seat. "B-but it's okay. They called you 'Beast' for a reason, right?"

 _"_ _Who is they?"_

"Well, um. Everyone. I think, the military gave you the name."

 _"Is that so?"_

Lynn stumbled over a few phrases, before forcing a change of subject. "...It's unusual for scout drones to be operating alone."

 _"What do you mean?"_

"Scout drones are designed to operate for short periods of time. They are not capable of long-term patrolling."

 _"Someone set it on patrol-mode recently?"_

Lynn nodded, "No doubt. With-in the past couple of days."

 _"Maybe one of your sisters set it up."_

Shaking her head, Lynn explained, "By default, these drones identify us as friendlies. Unless someone changed their program, they wouldn't have attacked us."

Aoi tilted her head, "Green-eyes?"

"Unlikely. It's not a very effective strategy."

"Yellow-"

Lynn cut Aoi off, "No."

 _"_ _Then, someone else is alive?"_

"And whoever it is, does not like us."

 _"..."_

Rose poked Aoi, "Mommy?"

 _"_ _Yes?"_

"How did you know the hover-bike had a battle mode?"

 _"_ _I_ _g_ _uess_ _ed_ _."_

"What?"

 _"_ _If it ha_ _d_ _a gliding mode, then it probably ha_ _d_ _a battle mode."_

Still confused, Rose looked back at Lynn, who simply shrugged.

 _"Hey, Lynn."_

"Yah?"

 _"This translator is not reliable."_

Lynn smiled, "Want me to teach you more English?"

"Yes."

Although riding slower added a couple days to their journey, Aoi's English vastly improved from the extra tutoring during the ride. The trip would have taken even longer if it were not for the gliding mode. At the expense of Rose's comfort, Lynn's chest, and Aoi's ears, they continued to use the gliding mode over valleys. Following another three days, the trio found themselves on the top the last mountain, overlooking a once lively metropolis. Since this was a perfect spot to survey the city, they chose to rest and recharge the bike, before continuing on.

Stretching miles in each direction, the vast city boasted its remaining towers. Over the buildings and around the skyscrapers, numerous rails wove. A elaborate magnetic-train system connected each of the city's major sections. In what seemed to be the city's heart, a dark crater stretched about four miles in diameter. Rubble was all that remained inside.

"So that's where it hit."

"What?"

"There was an experimental, orbital weapon that the witch gained control over. It only had one shell left, when she took it… Unfortunately we lost planetary communication shortly after that. So, I never found-out where she targeted with it."

"Where you?"

"Um… I was in the Mexico, I think... or was it E-Nine..."

"How place name?"

"How did we name places? Let's see..." Grabbing a stick, Lynn drew a large, crude map of the world. "We are here. The Nation controlled nearly the entire world before the witch… Well. Anyways, before the Nation existed, the world was split into numerous 'nations,' each with its own government. One was called the United States of America, or 'USA.' When the USA decided to conquer the world, they categorized themselves as a 'providence.' Any nation who surrendered and abide by their demands, became a providence of the Nation and kept their original name." Lynn pointed at another location on the map. "When Mexico surrendered, they became a providence of the Nation and kept their name, Mexico." She mashed the end of the stick into another part of the map. "When Japan refused to surrender, the Nation forcefully conquered them. Thus Japan became a 'territory' and was renamed J-One. Make sense?"

"A little… Maybe..."

Sighing, Lynn threw the stick towards the city. "It only gets more complicated. People in providence were citizens of the Nation; yet people of the USA providence and a select few other ones were 'elevated citizens'… Like a class-system… But none of that matters anymore."

"Cit-zen?"

"Um…" Lynn shook her head, "L-like I said. It's complicated."

"Oh."

"Lazy Lynn," Rose teased.

Sticking her tongue out, Lynn kicked at the dirt-map, erasing the lines.

Tomorrow, they would explore the ruins.

Reaching the city's outer-rim, Lynn directed Aoi to make a stop, before going further in.

"We should stop at that gas-station first."

Aoi brought the bike to a halt and dismounted. "Why station building?"

"Gas-stations usually have sealed food packets. It's a good place to look for supplies."

Aoi glanced at a neighboring building. Inside the broken window, she saw posters of familiar characters form the story chips. Perhaps that building had more story chips.

"I explore building," Aoi stated pointing at the more interesting option.

"Ok. We'll be in here. Be careful."

"You too."

While the clones continued scavenging the old gas station, Aoi wondered alone into the neighboring building. Before she even took five steps inside, Aoi noticed a man – buff, rugged, and armed – standing in the room. With his back facing Aoi, he appeared to be scanning the shelves for anything useful. Startled by his appearance, Aoi bumped into a shelf holding assorted glass cups. They tumbled one-by-one to the floor, shattering into thousands of pieces on contact.

"That's what your kind did to us all," said the man slowly turning around. His voice was deep and rough. "But don't worry, I smell revenge in the air."


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

"H-hello," responded Aoi.

"Well, aren't you the polite one? Most of you just start shooting people at first glance."

Aoi hesitated, "I not English."

"What did you say? You accent is incredibly thick."

"I speck-speak Japanese."

"Japanese?"

" _Yes_ – _um_ – yes."

The man stared at her in the eyes. His furry face hid the twisted grin between his ears. After a long pause, he began speaking to her in Japanese.

 _"You_ _are_ _taller than the others."_

Aoi was slightly surprised at his fluent Japanese, but responded anyways, _"Yes. Do you know who I am?"_

 _"Quite well. You're the one responsible for all of this. You destroyed the world."_

 _"What?"_

The old man sighed, _"Well I guess it can't be helped. I should explain_ _first_ _; or I'll have a guilty conscience."_

 _"Explain, please,"_ Aoi demanded eagerly.

 _"Years ago, I knew your father - a brilliant man. You were his first-and-last child, a still-born. Heart-broken, he used his military funding to commence a science experiment on you, not only to preserve your body, but to have you grow-up as-well. You were his lab-rat. Even though you were physically revived, you never gained conscious… I was the one in-charge of making sure he correctly used his funds. Those funds were meant for military research. After I pressured him, he then decided to improve your physical abilities, in the name of 'super-soldier research'… but the military had no use for an unconscious super-child. So... he made clones."_

 _"Clones."_

 _"About one million, including the failed ones. It was the Black Rock Shooter Project."_

 _"Failed ones?"_

 _"The clones that aged too slowly, they were never given a number. Those things died rather quickly."_

There was a slight edge in Aoi's voice, _"'Things?'"_

While pretending to ignore her comment, the man's hidden smile widened, _"The clones worked well, the military used them to fight their war. Nearly conquered the entire world, but then… They changed. The clones began to turn on us. Their once blue eyes then burned a devilish green. They destroyed every country's defenses, disposed of all governments, and controlled the masses."_

 _"The witch."_

" _Witch? Just a made-up excuse. No such thing exists."_

Aoi remained quite, as the man continued, _"Around the time their green eyes began to change to a mustard-yellow, **you**... began to wake-up. What few who were left of the science team panicked. You were put you in a deep sleep, shoved into a stasis pod, and launched into orbit."_

 _"Yellow eyes?"_

 _"Oh yes, the yellow-eyed ones were merciless they feared no-one, served no-one, and wiped-out every remaining human being on the planet."_

 _"Every human?"_

 _"I haven't seen any, I presume that I'm the last one."_

 _"Then what am I?"_

 _"A yellowed-eyed witch egg, ready to hatch and finish the job."_

 _"What happened to all the ones with yellow-eyes?"_

 _"They live for a year-and-a-half, before dying-off for some strange reason."_

 _"What made their eyes change?"_

 _"I don't know, and I don't want to know. All of you are ticking time-bombs."_

Aoi took a step backwards, _"It sounds like you want to kill me."_

 _"You and every other blue-eyed monster."_

Aoi's hand hovered over her pistol, _"Then why did you bother explaining any of this?"_

 _"Well, I would have a guilty conscience if I didn't. Also, I was waiting for this to finish warming-up."_

The man tapped a button on his watch. Crashing through the ceiling, an exo-armor suit about two stories tall separated the two. The man climbed in.

 _"This is the only prototype exo-suit of its kind. I have already killed two-hundred-ninety-three of you with it. Killing the original will be_ 'the cherry on top.' _"_

Aoi ran outside into the street. She saw Lynn running toward her.

"Danger!" Aoi yelled, "Run!"

The exo-armor crashed through the building wall as though it was paper.

"You!" Lynn yelled angrily at the man. "You will pay!"

 _"It appears you've met one of your offspring, witch. One last thing, do you know what the scientists named you, after the clones started killing everyone? They named you_ 'Beast.' _"_

"My name is Aoi!" Aoi's left-eye caught fire.

" _What? Then when you change colors what will your name be?_ Greenie? _"_

The exo-armor launched energy-missiles at Aoi. Missed. On impact they sent shock waves of electricity outward. Dust filled the air. Instinctively the man pointed the exo-armor's left arm to the right shooting vigorously. The clones almost always dodged that way. The smoke settle, but Aoi was nowhere to be seen. Something caught the man's eye, as he barely managed to dodge a swinging claymore from above.

 _"Very clever,"_ said the man, _"I always suspected your father hid a few toys in that stasis pod."_

While the saw-boots gave an advantage of flight and speed, Lynn's stubbornness was making concentration difficult. The man pointed the machine gun at Lynn. Aoi barely flew over in time to grab her.

"Put me down! I want to help!"

"No! Man strong."

Aoi tried to get far enough to hide Lynn, but the exo-armor was faster than she thought. A missile's shock wave caught her off guard, forcing Aoi to drop Lynn. Luckily it was a short decent to a roof below. Aoi shot a few rounds at the armor, as she landed in-front of the building. Several rounds found their mark on the machine gun, rendering it useless.

"T'ch. No problem," the man said, "I'll do this by hand." With that, the armor's hands lit-up with electricity. He launched towards Aoi, and landed merely a few feet away. Close-quarter-combat came natural to Aoi. Dodging his swings, she swung the claymore at him. It cut the armor's left arm clean-off, which crashed against the ground with a loud thud. No sooner than the shot was heard, a sniper's round cut clean through the right knee-joint. Rose. The armor stumbled off-balance. Aoi boosted into the air. Just when the silo doors on the suit opened, Aoi shot clean into one. The missile exploded inside the armor, shredding it to pieces in a cloud of smoke and debris. It was over. Right?

Parts of the armor were on fire, other parts groaned in attempts to keep moving. Bright electrostatic discharges zapped between several pieces of metal. As Aoi approached the remains of the armor, she heard coughing. The man was still alive – severely injured – yet alive. In a singular motion Aoi grabbed and pointed her pistol at his head. He stared at her and began to laugh as though he went mad.

 _"Magnificent. Your clones don't even compare to you cough-cough. You'll see. You'll see that I was right. All of them are little monsters, and you... you are the queen beast. You can't change who you are."_

 _"You never told me about Mom."_

 _"I never met her. She ran away after your corps was born; or so I was told."_

Aoi did not reply.

 _"I regret nothing. Go ahead, prove what a monster you are! Finish me off. I have already taken revenge for so many human lives. It is only fitting that the last man on earth should be killed by the original beast!"_

BAM!


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

Head-shot, the man fell over lifeless; but it was not Aoi who shot him. She turned around. It was Lynn. Lynn still had her cannon pointed at where there once was a head. As she spoke, bitterness filled her voice as if her words were venom.

"That was for all my sisters you killed." Looking at Aoi, "Let's go." She said that without changing her cold tone.

"Lynn kill last man."

"Yeah, so what?"

"Why?"

"Didn't he tell you? He was a murderer! That monster killed so many of us clones, and was proud of it!"

"But he hurt!" To her own surprise, Aoi's words sounded progressively upset.

"He would have recovered eventually, and started killing again!"

"Machine broken!"

"He would've find another way."

"Lynn murderer. Lynn killed last human. Is Lynn monster?"

"Listen you." Lynn swung her hand down. "I have killed hundreds of people, all in the name of 'justice' and 'freedom.' I did it all for a country I never knew! What is one more dead human to me?"

"Humans can be good. Humans can change. Humans can be sorry."

"Human are scum. You want to know something about Rose's past? She was a newer model clone, who got trapped inside a launch-plane. She never even made it into a war zone. The plane was shot down behind enemy lines and never recovered. For the remainder of the war, Rose could only run and hide all alone; because it was 'too high a risk' to send a retrieval team. What an excuse. They only saw her as a petty weapon. Why retrieve her, when you still have hundreds-of-thousands more clones? … If that is how humans treat us, then all humans should have died a long time ago!"

"I is human!"

"Oh, really? After all those experiments they did to you, you really think you're still human? Do you really think they'd call you 'Beast,' if you were a **real** human? Every **real** human-scum deserved the death they got."

There was a long tense silence.

"… Man right."

"What?"

"Lynn is monster."

Aoi did not expect those words to rip streigh-through Lynn's heart like tissue-paper. As Lynn's scowl broke, her eyes began to water.

"I am just trying... to be-" she choked. "I just want to-" Losing her fight with the tears, her voice gave-way to sobs. As her face flushed, she turned and ran.

"Lynn!" Aoi stretched out her hand, but her legs remained planted. Clearly she had hurt Lynn's feelings. Aoi knew this, yet she did not know what to do about it. In the stories she watched, usually someone would say 'I'm sorry' when there was controversy. Which character said it? Aoi or Lynn? Did it matter who said it? Why did those words make things okay after they were said? If the character said 'sorry' without 'meaning it,' then the 'I'm sorry' had a negative effect. Did she really feel sorry? Is this what 'sorry' feels like? In all honesty, Aoi regretted saying what she said; yet the only feeling she felt was anger.

Burning in her chest, Aoi still felt the coals of anger. This was potentially the most furious Aoi had ever felt. Perhaps she was not 'sorry' enough…

Interrupting Aoi's thoughts, movement caught her attention. From the corner of her eye, Aoi thought she saw a shadow disappear. After a quick glace around, she ran towards a nearby ally. Although there was no further evidence that anything moved, Aoi's instincts had momentarily felt the presence of someone. She knew this.

Rose called out from a nearby building, "What is it?"

"Someone there."

"I'll flank right."

Whoever Aoi 'felt,' was effectively evading visual contact. Turning down an ally, meeting another bend, and turning again, Aoi felt like she was on an invisible stranger's toes. Suddenly she heard shouting ahead.

"S-Stop right there!" It was Rose's voice. "I said st- Mommy! She turned around!"

As Aoi rounded one last corner, a blur appeared before her. Thrusting her arms forward, she tackled the figure to the ground. With the stranger sloppily pinned to the cement, Aoi struggled to hold-onto her wrists and cross their legs.

Another clone, but she was wearing an old blind-fold over her eyes.

"You calm. I not hurt you."

The clone did not respond, but managed to free one of her hands. In an instant Aoi felt a pop on her head.

 _"_ _Owe!"_

Without a second thought Aoi let go of the clone. Taking advantage of Aoi's mistake, the clone freed her legs and sprinted toward Rose, who had just rounded the corner.

"Stop!"

Dodging a swinging blade, Rose stumbled to the ground.

"Hey!" Rose was about to pursue, when she saw Aoi hunched-over with her hands on her head. "Mommy! Are you okay?!" She ran over.

"Very hurts," Aoi wined.

"Move your hands. Let-me-see."

Lynn dropped down from one of the buildings.

 _"_ _OWE!"_

"Stop resisting!"

Slowly Lynn approached them, "What were you guys chasing?"

"A clone…" Rose responded, not taking her eyes of Aoi's head. "It's just a bump. You'll be okay."

 _"It still hurts."_

"Did she drop this?" Lynn picked-up a small device sitting in front of Aoi.

"Yes, when clone hit I."

As Lynn pressed a button, an unfamiliar voice spoke from the device.

"Why hello, Max. I see you are still hunting down my precious daughters. From what I gather, you stubbornly refuse to believe in my existence. I'm hurt. Honestly, I am. After letting you live for so long… I don't know… You've become less-and-less amusing to watch… Tell you what, I'll let you in on my little secret. I'll show you where I came from. Remember mission 2689? Meet me at that facility, the place where I was reborn. I'm sure you know where it is. Perhaps, I'll find some… amusement, meeting you face-to-face."

There was an uneasy silence, before Aoi spoke. "Is Max, man I fight?"

"Probably," Lynn turned her head away. Obviously she was still mad about earlier.

"Witch give message?"

Lynn swallowed. "Probably."

"Where mission 2689?"

Lynn's eyes made contact. Aoi found their bitter stare discomforting, "Aoi, you can't be serious. Why would you want to-"

In a calm voice Aoi insisted, "Where mission 2689?"

"… A-13, Australia." Lynn turned around and stared at a graffiti wall.

"Practically on the other side of the world," Rose added.

"How clone be here? Very far. Escape pod?"

Rose shook her head, "Escape pods are a one-way trip. The only other thing that could quickly travel that distance is a mark-twelve B.R.S. sonic jet."

"Sonic jet? Where we find sonic jet?"

"Only six were made, and only a select-few clones were able to fly them."

"Oh. How we go Australia?"

Turning back, Lynn cut in, "Are you insane? This is the witch! She single-handedly took control over numerous clones and destroyed the world! And you want to just walk-up to her and do what, exactly? She'll eat us alive!"

"We safe?"

"..."

"We no safe. Witch knows where us. We run, but no safe. Stop witch, then we safe."

Siding with Aoi, Rose tried to convey Aoi's words more plainly, "She will be looking for us, now that she knows we still exist. It's better to confront her now, than to be caught off guard."

"And clone need save."

Lynn's protesting continued, "That clone is probably -no- definitely a green-eyes."

"We save clone."

"There is no saving green-eyes!"

"We try."

"You don't understand-"

"Man tell me, yellow eyes… Green-eyes, change, yellow-eyes. If eyes change, then we change eyes blue."

"… How?"

"Witch know how."

Lynn sought for support, "Rose?"

"I think it's worth the risk."

After a long pause Lynn spoke with defeat in her voice, "Rose… fine..." She took a deep breath, "How do we plan on getting there?"

Aoi tilted her head, "Witch think man could."

"Your right… He wouldn't have been traveling around in that armor, and I haven't seen a large enough vehicle for carrying that thing..."

"Machine fall, sky."

Lynn's face light-up, "An air-ship! Did he have a remote when he called the armor?"

"Man use watch."

"The air-ship must still be up there. We should get the remote."

Standing-up Aoi volunteered, "I go take watch."

Although she was clearly eager about the air-ship, Lynn agreed to let Aoi retrieve the watch alone. "We'll meet you at the bike." Perhaps she did not want to see the man's corps again.


End file.
